Waffles have been in existence for a substantial period of time and are considered by many people as an excellent food item. The high ridge type waffle, sometimes referred to as a Belgian waffle, when freshly cooked, is very light and is very crisp on the exterior thereof. As a result of the particular consistency and the crispness of the Belgian waffle, it is considered by many as a delicacy and is often utilized as a dessert waffle and may as well be consumed during regular mealtime. Belgian waffles are also more expensive because it is difficult to make the batter and to cook the waffles in a manner to obtain the desired quality thereof.
Although there have been many attempts to do so, Belgian waffles are not utilized in restaurants except in some rare specialty houses, because of the difficulty in making the batter and maintaining its freshness as well as in properly cooking the same.
In most restaurants, a waffle is considered an item to be prepared by the short order cook. In most cases the batter is prepared by the short order cook, poured, and baked in a waffle baking apparatus and then served immediately to customers. This is an involved and time-consuming effort for the short order cook who has to simultaneously handle many breakfast items. Efforts have been expanded in the past to provide precooked frozen waffles for quick and convenient reheating. Such waffles have been successfully marketed for consumption in homes as a convenience item (mostly consumed by children). However, they have not achieved any degree of success for use in restaurants. This is due to lack of sufficient quality demanded by restaurants in the end product after it has been reheated from a frozen state. For such waffles to be like freshly cooked they must be brought from a frozen to a heated state without drying out the surface and without loss of moisture. Such must be done rapidly to meet the time requirements of short order cooking while at the same time not overcooking or burning the exterior of the waffle leaving the center thereof in a frozen state.
In heating precooked frozen waffles, two methods have been devised. First is to heat the ambient air surrounding the waffle and thus raise the temperature of the waffle such as in toaster or oven and the other is to heat the waffle with microwaves. However, both methods are deemed to have important deficiencies which are particularly serious with regards to the high ridge waffles.
When the ambient air is heated, the temperature of the air surrounding the waffle is considerably higher than the temperature of the surface of the waffle and this causes evaporation of the moisture from the surface of the waffle leaving it dry. Some attempts have been made to wrap the waffles in a foil package or the like to retain the moisture. Laboratory experiments show that the moisture is still evaporated from the surface of the waffle and is retained within the foil package and causes the waffle to become soggy and not very tasty. Secondly, the ambient temperature is usually raised by radiation from a heated element or gas fire positioned in an oven or toaster. Such radiation bears directly on the waffle surface and overcooks or burns the delicate surface while the denser and more massive center remains cold. This problem is particularly acute with high ridge type waffles.
Some of the precooked frozen waffles are designed to be heated in the common electrically energized toaster. Such waffles have their size determined by the toaster and must therefore be thin so as to fit within the opening in the common household toaster. Under such conditions the high ridge type (Belgian) waffle cannot be used. In addition thereto, the toaster uses direct radiant exposed heat which warms the frozen waffle from the outside in. This can cause burning on the outside of the waffle while it remains frozen inside particularly if there is any significant thickness to the waffle. Also, through the utilization of an open system, moisture contained within the waffle is lost, thus drying out the waffle.
Infrared heating chambers have also been utilized for heating precooked frozen waffles. Such devices require special insulation and thus take up a large amount of space. The infrared heater also tends to dry out the waffle and it is extremely critical as to the amount of time during which the waffle is exposed to the infrared heater and thus burning often occurs.
A regular baking oven has been found to be relatively successful if it is preheated to approximately 400.degree.-425.degree. F. and the frozen waffle is left in the oven for approximately seven to10 minutes. However, this does not permit some of the moisture contained within the frozen waffle to be lost to the ambient within the oven. Thus the waffle does not taste like a freshly baked waffle. In commercial establishments such as restaurants, a regular oven usually is not available at the position therein occupied by the short order cook. In addition, the oven is used for numerous other things and thus cannot always be kept available at the proper temperature needed to heat the frozen waffles. But also a time span of 7-10 minutes required for oven reconstitution is not acceptable to the short order cook since it is substantially in excess of its cooking time requirements for breakfast items.
When a microwave oven is utilized to heat the frozen waffles, the waffle is heated from the inside out by agitation of the water molecules and thus the moisture contained in the more massive center section of the waffle is driven to the surface thereof. Such results in a relatively soggy waffle which, for the most part, is unpalatable.
There is no known prior art directed specifically to applicants' invention. There is prior art directed to waffle irons which are normally used to bake waffles as well as other food heating and preparing apparatus. The best such art known is U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,680,402, 1,769,045, 3,108,531, 3,245,337 and 3,999,473.